The C Side
by Juliette06
Summary: In which Toma gets exactly what he wants and Seiji acts completely out of character. One-shot. Companion piece to Mya Kirne's 'To the Moon' and 'The B Side'. THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER-Read MOON & B SIDE first please!


_The C Side_ or _Julie Can So Bend Reality_

Toma, looking to all the world as if he was deep in thought, buried in a book, wasn't really—for once. He'd already read this particular book, which was why he'd picked it up to begin with: he wanted something familiar, something he mostly understood already. If anyone asked (which they wouldn't), he could just claim to have not quite grasped some concept.

Better was hardly the word Toma would have chosen to describe the current situation—the one where he was desperately, stupidly, one-sided-ly in love with Seiji, one of his way-more-than-best-friends, but it _was_ better, at least a little bit. He even dared to hope that he might actually be getting over him. He had a girlfriend now, and the worst part was that she was actually _nice_. Toma supposed Seiji deserved that.

The downside was that Seiji was spending less time with Toma and the others than before, in order to spend more time with her. And, in what Toma desperately hoped was finally just a platonic way, he missed him. Sure, he still thought about what would happen if this girl of Seiji's somehow got out of their lives, but not as much. That was a good thing, right?

And then Seiji walked into the room. Why couldn't she get run over by a bus again? Toma certainly couldn't remember—but he must have smiled at the thought, because Seiji cleared his throat.

"Is there something funny about quantum physics?" He asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the counter. "And haven't you already read that one?"

Why did Seiji have to notice _everything_? _Well_, Toma corrected himself wryly, _Not everything._

"I wanted to be sure I understood how making a simultaneous measurement of a photon with a definite state and a photon that is part of an entangled pair will 'teleport' that state to the second photon in that entangled pair." That was one of the good things about being a genius—you could just say whatever you want, as long as you used big words, and nobody would question it.

"Ah," Seiji said, watching him curiously. Toma felt a chill go down his spine as Seiji's violet eyes locked with his own blue ones. Toma looked away first, back at his book.

"Ah, what?" This time it was Seiji's turn to be quiet, just shrugging as he stood up straight and moved to the kitchen. Toma sighed and closed his book, standing fluidly as he leaned on the other side of the counter. "Seiji? What?"

Seiji looked away from the cabinet he'd been poking through, back at Toma. Toma saw a flicker of…something there, something he couldn't place. What had him so quiet? Not that his blond friend was normally the most talkative of people, but ever since those two times when Toma had briefly, so briefly, worried and hoped and feared that Seiji had caught on to what he had so cleverly locked away, he had been quieter still . Maybe he really did know, and that was why…

As always, Toma's mind was working at lightspeed, but he shook his head to clear it when he realized he was just staring. Ogling, more like, probably.

Seiji sighed heavily and pulled the glass down from the cabinet, moving to the sink. Without looking at Toma, now, he started the faucet, filling his glass.

"Do you have a problem with Mitsuko?" Seiji asked, and it was all he had for Toma to not laugh out loud—if he had, Seiji would have known for sure that something was wrong with him, since he was sure that whatever came out of his mouth would not sound at all sane.

But after the initial shock of the question, Toma had to stop himself, again. What should his answer be? The honest one, was, of course _yes_. A hundred times yes. His problem was that she existed at all, that she was the object of Seiji's affections when Toma could never be. His problem was that she was _good_ for him. His problem was that Seiji was probably asking because he could sense that Toma did, in fact, have a problem.

But this was Seiji. If nothing else, Toma wanted him happy—even if it wasn't with Toma himself.

So, Toma did what he had to: "No, I don't. Why would I?" It was with a heavy heart that he lied to his comrade, because he had to, because even if he told the truth, it would change nothing, because it was what he was supposed to do.

"I don't know," Seiji responded, swirling his glass of water thoughtfully as he spoke. Toma had meant it as a rhetorical question, but the other did not seem to be taking it as such. "You just seem…different when you're around her."

Oh, gods. Did Seiji think that he _liked_ her?

"Different how?" Toma managed, again resisting the urge to laugh. "What do you mean, Seiji?" Toma raised his eyes as the other frowned, like he was frustrated—was Toma asking hard questions? He didn't think he was…then again, it wasn't the first time Toma had asked the wrong questions or said the wrong things.

"I don't know," Seiji repeated, frustration creeping into his voice as he swirled the water. Somewhat concerned for his friend-and-nothing-more now, Toma moved into the kitchen with him and gently took the glass from him, raising an eyebrow when Seiji finally met his eyes.

"We're Nakama, Seiji. Let me help you." As much as he didn't want to help him with his girl troubles, as much as he didn't want to do anything to make Seiji's relationship with Mitsuko _better_, what Toma had told Seiji was the truth—they were Nakama. They were supposed to be there for one another, no matter what, even if the 'what' was undying—

"Fine," Seiji interrupted his thoughts, pursing his lips slightly. "You never speak to her _or_ me when we come over. You've been staying up even later lately—and all our Nyquil is gone again—I saw you using it. Why? Are you upset at me, or her? Did I do something?"

Toma was flabbergasted, and it seemed Seiji was as well—the surprise Toma knew his face was showing was reflected in the blond's, his purple eyes widening as he realized what he had just allowed to come out of his mouth.

"Excuse me." Seiji finally managed, deftly moving around Toma. Toma shook his head quickly and caught his arm, his hand wrapping around the other man's wrist.

"Wait." Toma ordered, his voice firm. Seiji obeyed, for whatever reason. "Do you really want to know the truth?" Toma studied the other carefully, his bright blue eyes looking for any sign that he regretted what he'd said, any sign that something more serious than Mitsuko was wrong with him.

"Yes." Seiji answered, his jaw clenched tightly as he looked anywhere but at Toma, but he made no move to take his arm back. Had Seiji felt that too? The strange jolt that made Toma's heart nearly burst out of his chest?

…Probably just static electricity.

"Well…then…yes." Toma said with difficulty, making Seiji's head snap back to him. Toma held up his free hand in defense, telling him to wait. "No, I'm not…upset with you, Seiji, or with her." Toma sighed heavily, finally reluctantly letting his arm release Seiji's, only when he noticed that he had been holding on for much longer than was usually acceptable.

"What, then, Toma?" And just like that, the tables were turned and Seiji was the one questioning him, the one determined to find out the answers.

"I just…" Toma sighed heavily and looked at his feet. This was it. The moment of truth. The moment it all boiled down to—to tell Seiji or not to tell Seiji. To ruin one of the best relationships he'd ever had at a chance at an even better one.

Toma knew that Seiji had to know something was up. They could dance around each other and pretend nothing was wrong if Toma kept his mouth shut, but Toma knew that wasn't how it usually went. He had no choice.

"I just…wish it wasn't her." Toma said, his voice soft, still looking at his feet. Then, all of a sudden, Seiji was there, ducking a finger under Toma's chin to make him look at him. He was suddenly very close, right in front of Toma's face, his eyes boring into Toma's own. Toma nearly choked.

"Who do you wish it was, Toma?" Seiji asked, his voice just as quiet as Toma's own. Toma, for his part, felt flushed and like his head was spinning, like the earth had suddenly decided to flip off its normal axis around the sun and had gone into overdrive.

"Toma?"

"Me." There. One word. One word that would effectively ruin everything, everything Toma had cherished for years, _years_.

But at the same time, that one word lifted such a weight off the young boy's heart, he felt a smile tugging at his lips—a real smile, the like of which hadn't been seen on his face is so very long. No matter what Seiji did now, Toma could at least die knowing that his friend, his comrade, his brother-in-arms knew how he really felt about him. And that was enough.

And then Toma's mind was blown, which was a difficult thing to do: Seiji's lips were on his, Seiji's hand was brushing his fingers through his hair. Toma blinked, then decided he should keep his eyes closed—that was the way it was always done in movies. Seemingly of their own free will, Toma felt his arms wrap around Seiji's neck, pulling him closer, trapping him there. Seiji didn't seem to mind.

Seiji's arms wrapped around Toma's thin frame, and Toma melted—could this really be happening? Had he started daydreaming again? Just to be sure, Toma pinched his left hand with his right.

"Ow," Toma muttered, making Seiji pull back. No…this wasn't a dream or a daydream or anything…this was real…

"Ow?" Seiji repeated, his eyes somewhat lidded and his breath slow and heavy, even though there was a small smile playing on his face. "What?"

"Nothing, but..." Toma didn't want to ask, hated himself for asking, for ruining it—but he had to, he couldn't just let the doubts be and ignore them and enjoy this, "are you really sure about this?"

"Positive." That one word was all the answer he would ever need.

Toma smiled slowly up at his…his everything. "Then forget I said anything," And then it was Toma's turn to take the real plunge; Toma stood up straighter and carefully cupped the blond's face with one hand, his thumb brushing under his eye. Seiji smiled slowly in return and wrapped both arms around him again, pulling him to him again.

As his mouth moved up to Seiji's, he heard it whisper, "It's forgotten."


End file.
